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Review: 'Independent Lens: Ask Not' on KCET

"Ask Not" asks whether the U.S. military can afford to continue excluding volunteers whose only supposed flaw is that they refuse to deny their homosexuality.

The documentary argues that it cannot: that with two active wars, America needs the services of all its citizens.

Despite the recruitment challenges since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, the military has discharged hundreds of gay personnel, including scores of linguists at a time when language skills are desperately needed by troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

"Ask Not" presents a strong argument, with compelling interviews with gay veterans booted out of the military after running afoul of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that allows gays to serve as long as they remain, in a phrase from a gay Coast Guard retired admiral, "silent and celibate."